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Wheat Kings continue to roll, take down Cougars

Going into Wednesday’s game against the Prince George Cougars, the Brandon Wheat Kings were red-hot. Winners of six straight games, the Wheat Kings were the hottest team in the league besides the Portland Winterhawks who can’t seem to lose a game.

Just in case you haven’t checked up on your standings recently, the Winterhawks are 14-0-1-1 in their last 16 games and they lead the U.S. Division.

When it comes to what’s happening in the Wheat City, well, the team keeps on winning. Welcoming the Cougars to town on Wednesday, Jiri Patera shut the door again as Brandon skated past Prince George, 4-0.

Patera continued a streak that has seen him only allow five goals in his last six appearances.

“We’re playing a really good defensive game and we’re playing as a team,” said Jiri Patera after the game courtesy of wheatkings.com. “I’m just feeling really confident right now and the pucks are hitting me right now.”

“We scored a lot of goals today and our defence is allowing me to see the puck,” said Patera.

(wheatkings.com) Gauthier ended up making 37 saves on the night.

On a night where Taylor Gauthier was also very good for Prince George, the Wheat Kings did enough to extend their winning streak to seven games.

In the first period on Wednesday, Gauthier made 12 saves, however, one shot did beat him. On the power play, Chad Nychuk scored his fifth goal of the season to give the Wheat Kings a 1-0 lead, one they held into the second period. Patera would make nine saves in the first.

Both goaltenders were solid in the middle frame. Gauthier made 13 saves for a two-period total of 25 while Patera turned away seven for a two-period total of 16. Going into the third, the game was still 1-0 Brandon, but the Wheat Kings in front of more than 2500 fans inside of Westoba Place, broke it open in the final frame.

Just 1:35 into the period, Duncan Pierce scored his fourth of the season as Brandon made it 2-0. Connor Gutenberg would then make it 3-0 with his ninth of the season just more than seven minutes later.

With 10:43 left, Marcus Sekundiak would find the back of the net to make it 4-0 for Brandon as he tallied his sixth of the season.

The three-goal period came off of 15 shots while Patera had to make only five saves in the third to earn the shutout.

(wheatkings.com) Goals and big saves are the theme in Brandon right now.

Brandon’s win has created a little bit of a cushion in the East Division. They now lead Saskatoon by four points for the third spot. They are, meanwhile, four points back of Prince Albert and six back of Winnipeg for the top spot.

Prince George, meanwhile, dropped to 11-24-3-4.

Brandon will look to make it eight straight when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to the Wheat City on Friday night. Prince Albert will finish their trip with a game against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.

Wheat Tips:

  • The win saw Patera drop his G.A.A to 2.43 while he saw his save percentage improved to .925.
  • Brandon went 1-for-6 on the power play while Prince George went 0-for-4.
  • The Wheat Kings haven’t lost since December 28, with their winning streak starting on December 30.